After sitting through 7 days of testimonies and evidence, and 1 day of closing arguments, this morning we listened to the judge’s instructions and summation of the case, and how the law should be applied in our decisions.
Just before we were released for deliberation, another ballot was performed. This was to select the final 12 jurors who would ultimately deliberate on the verdict. I was not one of them. How anti-climatic! 
So I went home at around 1pm and felt both relieved and mildly dissapointed. Relieved because this was a case of he said, she said and I know it was going to be hard for the diverse group of jurors to come up with a unanimous decision. I had asked the other juror who was balloted off as well how he would have voted, and I found out that he would have voted for “guilty” and I would have voted the other way. And I felt relieved also because the thought of possibly sending innocent persons to jail weighed heavily on me throughout the trial.
At the same time, I was mildly dissapointed because after having sit through the entirety of the trial, which I’ve found to be fascinating and reaffirming of our justice system, I would have liked to be able to make that one last contribution for it. But alas, it was not to be.
I will talk more about the specifics of the trial next week. Until then, the weekend beckons. 
9 Responses to “The end of jury duty”
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I would probably feel the same way and be so guilt-ridden that I had sent the wrong party to jail. Perhaps it is a good thing then, that you didn’t get selected in the end. At least you come out of there with a good experience of the jury system. Better than a week at the office?
were you guys sequestered throughout the trial?
I didn’t realise that you don’t really know if you’re voting until the end of the trial – how anti-climatic! Still, good experience!
blur ting: yes it was definitely a good break from work!
v.u.: nah, we get to go home every day and the court is not in session over the weekends.
sourrain: they had planned that all along and we were told of that in the beginning. but yes yes, very good and educational experience.
Question, Must the Verdict be Unaimous?
[...] Last Friday saw the end of my 9-day stint on the juror’s bench. I had told you about the experience on that first day. And I told you know how that experience ended. [...]
Yeah by default, that’s the case. But I was told that some judges will allow a majority-vote if the deliberation has gone on for too long (> 3 hours) and if the majority is overwhelming, like for example, 10-2 or 11-1.
Your follow-up post was amazing, really interesting stuff. But somehow i couldn’t post a comment there so i’m doing it here.
Like Lupin, I’m curious why must the jury reach a unanimous decision? wouldn’t that be somewhat prejudicial to the defendant if a split decision arose esp with a group of panelists who’re sitting on the fence? It seems pretty dodgy eh
v.u.: that’s how the law works and sometimes judges will allow a decision if it’s an overwhelming majority, like 10-2, 11-1. If it’s neither here or there, the judge may declare a hung jury and I think that’s when they have to retry the trial.